Truth in magic
by apathyinreverie
Summary: What if… the Stilinskis have had ties to the supernatural for centuries. Claudia walks out on them when Stiles first shows aptitude for magic. Where the Sheriff is left instead of widowed, angry instead of grieving and involved with his son's life instead of drinking himself to an early death. Peter just really wishes someone had thought to tell him about the resident magic users.


Chapter 1

The Stilinskis have had ties to the supernatural for as long as their history can be traced back into the darkness of pre-Roman Europe.

Of course, they weren't always called Stilinski - and even now, some of the branches of their family tree actually carry a different name - but they do have a complete family tree that goes back actual millenia in history.

Because the Stilinskis - even those under a different name - are Record Keepers. Of the magical variety.

Their family has been keeping records of history since long before even the Romans started making noise about ruling Europe.

And it's not only that their family has been watching, recording and keeping history. No, their record keeping is magical as in there are no falsehoods, no personal opinions, no skewed views in their records. When a Stilinski puts pen to paper, they write the _Truth_. Not the truth as they know it, but the truth as it _happened_.

They record history as it happens, they can't do otherwise.

Their bloodline has been living closely intertwined with earth's natural magic for all of humanity's history. Thus, they have also developed a certain aptitude for wielding magic itself, which helps them store and preserve the records they keep.

However, this aptitude for actually wielding magic skips generations quite frequently on all sides of their family tree - which is absurdly large and covers almost every corner of the world - but every Stilinski is still taught everything there is to know about wielding magic. Because even if you yourself can't wield magic, chances are your children _will_ be able to.

Accordingly, Noah himself doesn't have magic and neither did his dad. But he still remembers watching his grandfather practicing the ancient arts with awe. Natural magic – the sort that comes from _within_ oneself – can be breathtakingly beautiful or devastatingly terrifying.

But point is, their branch of the family tree has already skipped two generations. So, they were due another magic wielder quite soon.

Thus, when his barely six year old son does magic for the first time, Noah is not at all surprised. He just lifts his son - who is still staring in wonder at his favorite potted plant which he made take over their entire living room - and joyfully spins him in a circle.

It is however too much for Noah's wife.

Who walks out on them that very same night, without looking back once.

And even years later, it still makes Noah so furiously _angry_. Because he had loved Claudia with everything in him, with everything he was, and she simply threw their family away without a second thought. But the part that makes him unspeakably _furious_ is her refusal to deal with a magical child while in hearing range of their son.

Who to this day feels responsible for making his mother walk out of their life.

An opinion which Noah _still_ hasn't been able to discourage him from.

Claudia walking out of their lives is not on Stiles. That's on _her_.

So, when Claudia doesn't return within the six months grace period Noah had decided to give her - because admittedly having your own child suddenly develop supernatural powers is bound to be rather shocking - he takes a look around himself. At his downtrodden son - who still won't laugh loudly at the TV or even ask for an extra helping of desert - and at his stressful job which has only gotten more stressful with her disappearance.

To hell with her.

They'll be perfectly fine taking care of each other.

At least after some initial hickups.

Because his son has always been a rather excitable child, always bouncing around, chattering endlessly, finding new things to grab his attention, before getting distracted by something else entirely.

In the aftermath of her disappearance Stiles is quiet, far _too_ quiet.

Noah worries endlessly and it still takes him quite a bit of time to realize that his son's behavior is due to the six year old being _desperately_ worried about driving his dad away as well. Just like he had his mother.

And nothing Noah says gets through to his son to convince him otherwise.

He has to watch helplessly as Stiles withdraws further and further inside himself, not stepping a single toe out of line, being far more well-behaved than any child ever _should_ be.

It all comes to a head when Noah finally realizes that the reason for their house being so clean despite him barely having the time to do the dishes - he is so far in over his head, trying to do his job _and_ raising his son - is that Stiles has been trying to take care of the household in his mother's stead.

One morning, a loud crash from downstairs has Noah practically catapulting out of bed and down the stairs. Only to find his six year old son standing in a pool of shards - desperate tears in his eyes - clearly having been trying to dust their china cabinet, only to fall off and take half the cupboard with him. But despite his instinctual anger at the thought of Stiles getting hurt due to his furniture acrobatics – because climbing the furniture is definitely not allowed in their house - his son's wide, tear-filled eyes had immediately take all wind from his sails.

Noah had never liked the flowery china Claudia's mother had given them for their wedding anyways.

And the long and tearful conversation afterwards finally restores his son to the beautiful, bright, energetic child he had been before Noah's wife walked out the front door in the dead of night.

So, who needs _her_? Stiles and Noah certainly don't.

* * *

Of course, everyone in town knows that the Sheriff's wife had one day simply left, left her hardworking husband and her six year old son behind and never returned.

And the gossips wag their tongues about how much of a disappointment 'that Gajos girl' had turned out to be, to just walk out on her beautiful little family, leaving her husband to clear up the mess.

Who does an incredible job, because not only does Deputy Stilinski continue to keep their little town safe, but he also takes amazing care of his son.

Of course young Stiles is down for a while - completely understandable for such a _nice_ child, they say - but it only takes a few months for him to bounce back with enthusiasm, still being so very well behaved for his dad. Little Stiles immediately becomes the sweetheart of all of Beacon Hills' grannies.

Who do their best to support those 'nice Stilinskis'. And casseroles, cakes, bread and even fruit baskets start to make frequent and rather uncontrollable appearances on their porch.

Stiles thinks it's awesome that they have a food-growing porch and Noah just rolls his eyes every evening when he sees the sheer amount of food left for them yet again. Because there is simply no way that the two of them can eat all of that.

Thus, every weekend Noah bundles up his son, grabs at least ten of the leftover casseroles they had put in the freezer and drives several cities over to deliver the food to the shelters there. Trying to avoid tipping off the grannies just where their food is going.

Noah just wishes the well-meaning busybodies of Beacon Hills would come up with a schedule of who brings them food in a particular week, so he wouldn't have to deal with the absurd amount of leftovers. On the other hand, the grannies' cooking ensures that Stiles eats healthily - at this point his son even has _favorite_ casseroles - and packing lunch is easily done and always includes something healthy without Noah having to worry about finishing work before the supermarket closes.

And Stiles _adores_ their weekend road trips - even if it is just a couple of miles - because he gets to spend at least a few hours with no one but his dad.

Most of which he spends asking questions.

Almost exclusively about magic.

And Noah slowly teaches his son everything he knows. Just as his father did for him and his grandfather did before that.

Their road trips quickly become the highlight of their week and the older Stiles gets, the more they extend their trips away from Beacon Hills. Sometimes they camp somewhere over night, because there is no better place to let his son test his magic than somewhere in the mountainous wilds of California.

And Stiles _always_ wants to learn. He soaks up new knowledge like a sponge and nothing motivates him like the promise of learning something new. He enthusiastically throws himself into his studies - both, school and magic - easily staying top of his class in every single subject and devouring every single magical text Noah procures – mostly by asking their relatives in Europe to _please_ send some more material.

And while Stiles doesn't have many friends at school - being so intertwined with the _truth_ makes Stilinskis rather unlikable for the majority of humanity, because the head-in-the-sand sort of people rarely like having the truth pointed out to them - but he at least has some fellow students he sometimes hangs out with.

His closest friend is probably Scott McCall, although the Sheriff suspects that Scott has mainly latched onto Stiles because he sees him as just another unpopular kid. Stiles never excludes anyone who wants to spend time with him and has thus become a magnet for any and all outsiders at school. And Stiles himself simply doesn't _care_ about popularity, but Scott definitely _does_.

Thankfully, Stiles is so enamored with the supernatural community and the people he meets there that his son doesn't actually rely on that particular friendship. Because the Sheriff is pretty sure that Scott will not stick with Stiles if he ever actually gets a chance at popularity. That kid is far too self-absorbed to understand loyalty.

But Stiles is happily living his life - undeterred by the teenage drama around him - learning and practicing magic, despite initially shying away from it after seeing his mother's reaction. Which is something Noah will never be able to forgive her for. Because suppressing his magic would have been a death sentence for his son.

But now, years after Claudia walked out on them, Noah's son is doing well and Noah himself is so universally liked by the population of Beacon Hills that when he throws his hat in the ring for the position of Sheriff, it's a landslide win.

They celebrate by actually going _out_ to eat for once instead of having yet another casserole for dinner.

Because despite his wife having left almost ten years ago now, they still regularly find food on their porch. Apparently, making casseroles for the Stilinskis has become some sort of rite of passage if you want to be part of Beacon Hills' social – read: gossiping - circles.

It's ridiculous but neither Noah nor Stiles have the heart to actually tell the grannies to stop - and at this point the homeless shelters of the area have probably started relying on their weekly delivery anyways. And years ago, Stiles actually taught himself to cook, desperate to have anything _but_ casserole for dinner from time to time.

His son usually cooks four or five nights a week and the grannies are none the wiser that they give away most of the food left on their porch.

Then, shortly after his election as Sheriff, Stiles' summer holidays start. So, Noah decides to take him on a trip to visit their family in Poland.

And it's definitely one of his better ideas. Stiles immediately hits it off with their numerous relatives and Noah has never seen his son quite this carefree.

Noah's older cousin - once removed, but who cares with their family history - has a similar aptitude for magic as Stiles. And Jakub immediately starts teaching Stiles the sort of intricate magics that Noah had asked his son avoid until he had a proper instructor to help in case things went sideways.

Stiles had actually listened after an initial attempt at starting a camp fire directly _against_ Noah's wishes and almost burning down the forest they had been camping in. With both of them in it.

Once Stiles actually meets Jakub, there is no holding back for his son anymore. Stiles takes to the advanced magics like a fish to water.

Noah just leans back and watches as his son baffles their extended family with his ability to absorb any new knowledge presented to him within moments, only to promptly return with countless questions and new ideas how to do it _better_.

Noah can hear their older family members whispering and he is certain that within a few years, they will want to take Stiles to the Record Vaults. Because Stilinskis with magic naturally strengthen the wards preserving the records that have been kept by their family for so many centuries now.

Noah himself has never had that honor - he only knows of it from his grandfather's stories - because the Vaults are for elders and for Sparks only.

So, Noah will still have to wait quite a few more years until he will even have a chance to see it. But he is sure, Stiles will love it.

Sadly, he cannot extend his vacation beyond six weeks, which had only been possible in the first place because he had amassed an absurd amount of holidays over the years. Noah had decided to take most of his remaining days off now, because once he actually starts as the County's Sheriff, the next real vacation will probably have to wait several years.

But Stiles doesn't complain when their date of departure approaches. It is one thing that hasn't changed about his son after Claudia's abandonment, no matter how many years pass. Stiles doesn't complain. Ever.

He may whine and try to needle Noah into something, but he never actually complains about not getting his way.

Claudia had really done a number on them. Screw her.

Which is apparently a rather popular opinion among their family and one night Jakub together with his sister Lena and their cousin Alessandro - who is visiting from Italy - gets Noah completely drunk before needling him for any and all information about Claudia.

Noah is pretty certain his ex-wife has a rather nasty curse coming her way, courtesy of the extended Stilinski family.

He really couldn't care less and pretends to not remember ever talking about her in the first place or even a single moment from that entire night.

Plausible deniability and all that.

But after the six weeks are over, they finally have to leave Poland.

There is a somewhat tearful goodbye from his little eight year old nieces - who have completely fallen in love with Stiles and his antics - and a lot of rather disturbing giggling between Stiles and his many teenage cousins. Jakub demands that they come visit again as soon as possible and to expect to be swarmed by their family for the next holidays.

All in all, it is a pretty perfect vacation, but after several weeks away Noah and Stiles are also looking forward to returning to their little corner of the world.

However, it takes them only a few hours after _getting_ home to realize that their peaceful little town has suddenly turned into a death trap peppered with irrational werewolves and codeless hunters. Not to even mention the dead bodies piling up in Beacon Hills.

Scott has apparently been bitten and without warning drags a jetlagged Stiles from his bed and into the woods before his son can even realize what is actually going on.

Suddenly, Stiles is caught between three out of control werewolves. Peter Hale - out of his mind with grief and hell-bent on revenge - against Derek Hale - who is grieving for his sister and chose _now_ of all times to finally return to their town - and Scott McCall - who was recently turned and now wants his pound of flesh from the alpha responsible.

And Scott apparently decided that Stiles was to help him get it.

When Noah finally stomps into the clearing where the standoff is taking place - furious at finding his son missing at all - he finds Stiles completely bedraggled, wet from the rain and still in his pajamas staring rather dumbfounded at the three werewolves surrounding him and shouting at each other.

But Stiles' befuddlement is clearly starting to turn into irritation at this point, because his magic is already crackling invisibly around his fingertips.

And the werewolves clearly haven't realized yet that they brought someone far more dangerous into their Mexican standoff than they could have possibly anticipated.

This situation would be almost comical if Noah weren't so decidedly _un_ amused at having to chase after his son in the first place.

He just came from a vacation, he is jetlagged as hell, tomorrow is his first day on a new job and instead of getting some sleep he is chasing idiot werewolves through the woods because they decided to kidnap the _Sheriff's_ son from his bedroom.

Noah is _distinctly_ unimpressed.

* * *

A/N: So, these were actually two separate bunnies (Claudia leaving and a magical Stilinski family line) that were scuttling around my brain and they ended up meshed somehow... But I quite like how it turned out :)

I enjoyed writing this from the Sheriff's POV and I'm not sure whether I'll ever continue this but the next chapter would probably be from Stiles' POV. Also, I know I messed around with backgrounds and timelines but it just fit better this way, so I'm sorry if that bothers anyone.

Please let me know what you think :)


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